Abstract
Magnesium ferrite (MgF), copper doped magnesium ferrite (CMgF), and their composite with rGO sheets were used to study the degradation of the organic pollutants and to perform antibacterial activity. The photocatalysts were prepared by the co-precipitation technique and characterized using X-rays diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) UV–visible, and fourier transfrom infrared microscopy (FT-IR), and photoelectrochemical analysis. The structure of the nanomaterials was confirmed via XRD. The functional group detection was carried out via FT-IR spectroscopy. The SEM technique was used to confirm the surface morphology of the prepared nanocatalysts. UV–Visible spectroscopy was used to measure the absorbance during the degradation experiment. The percentage photodegradation by CMgF@rGO of methylene blue was 92.4%, and that of benzimidazole was 50%. CMgF@rGO also showed better antibacterial activity against bacterial strains of Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus. The rGO layers can enhance the photodegradation efficiency of copper doped magnesium ferrite due to an increase in surface area. The EIS study revealed that CMgF@rGO illustrated 2.59 and 1.57 times less charge transfer resistance than MgF and CMgF samples. The CMgF@rGO composite separately showed 9.7-fold and 3.9-fold greater transient photocurrent response than MgF and CMgF samples. A scavenging experiment was carried out to determine the most reactive species; and hydroxyl radicals were found to be highly active species, and electrons were the least reactive species.
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